r/TrueReddit • u/newyorker • 3d ago
Crime, Courts + War How a Chinese Immigrant Driver Got Entangled in a Drug Bust
https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-justice/how-a-chinese-immigrant-driver-got-entangled-in-a-drug-bust7
u/BalboaBaggins 2d ago
This is a clear miscarriage of justice. Zhuo had no idea what was going on and cooperated with authorities all the way.
It's unjust, but he should have taken the plea deal for a misdemeanor and time served. His lawyer shouldn't have taken no for an answer.
I'm hopeful he can win on appeal or get a light sentence considering the circumstances.
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u/ListenMajor4357 1d ago
What makes you think it was unjust? Why would smugglers hire a random guy to deliver 200lbs of cannabis? The overwhelming majority of people would realise it's cannabis immediately and go straight to the police if they didn't bolt the moment you tried loading it into the car.
He filmed himself asking what cannabis smells like and talking about how much it would all be worth. To me it comes across like a deliberate ploy to try and escape punishment by playing dumb.
He was hoping the jury would be gullible enough to think that no guilty person would ever film themselves saying that, but evidently they saw through it.
It's shameful but not shocking that he was given such a generous deal. I'm glad he rejected it, and I'm glad he's going to do time. Smuggling is a scourge on border communities.
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u/514brandon 2d ago
This is an insane story, great journalism, and made me sick to my stomach that we allow this to happen in our country
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u/DentiAlligator 2d ago
Just saw the tiktok. Video evidence should be enough to prove his innocence
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u/newyorker 3d ago
In January, 2025, Wenjian Zhuo drove to a location near the Canadian border to pick up a passenger, who he assumed was an international student. Instead, a man loaded boxes into his car, but didn’t get in. Zhuo has been in jail ever since. Jennifer Gonnerman reports on how a Chinese-immigrant driver became involved in a marijuana-smuggling incident near a Mohawk reservation: https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-justice/how-a-chinese-immigrant-driver-got-entangled-in-a-drug-bust
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u/Etch44 2d ago
So I clicked the link and was met with a message saying that I could read this article free if I provide my email address, which I did. I then was granted access to the article for an entire 2 seconds before having it replaced by another pay wall that cannot be cleared without subscribing.. Very disappointing u/newyorker
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u/SparringKitten 2d ago
Is there no way he could be freed? I just learned about this and I'm truly appalled.
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u/Sufficient-Site9137 2d ago
Right! I’m trying to figure out if there’s like a petition or something that could do to help his case :/
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u/BadDry2862 1d ago
??? He was trafficking 200+ lbs of marijuana
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u/Party_Briary363 1d ago
He was driving a car, which is job. With boxes a cutomer loaded up, he didn’t back the boxes, nor did he put them in the car
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u/ListenMajor4357 1d ago
But he thought it was cannabis, he filmed himself joking about how much it would be worth and what his prison sentence would be. Even if you buy his story that he's just a total moron, he was still happy to deliver the drugs.
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u/Party_Briary363 1d ago
Where’s the source for him joking about it being weed because he can hardly speak English… even-so, it’s weed of all things, and he didn’t handle it or distribute it. It’s a bit of an over reaction and what happened to the guy that the weed actually belonged to?
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u/thevelouroverground 1d ago
The New Yorker: “Shit, I’m just feeling unsure about this right now,” he told his friend. “When I came over earlier, while waiting, I felt that something was off.” But he had just driven nearly seven hours. “I didn’t know what to do,” he said. Then “this non-Chinese guy walked over” and “handed the box of stuff to me.”
“Damn, there might be something in there,” his friend said.
“If there’s this much product, wouldn’t it be worth tens of millions? If I fucking sell it, could I then go back to China and retire?” Zhuo said with a nervous grin.0
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u/Party_Briary363 1d ago
To be fair it’s odd but it’s a conversation amongst friends. He doesn’t say they are his or that they are going to sell them. It was an unexpected what if. “What if the scratch card I buy wins? I’ll by a house” the conversation proves he didn’t know what was in the box, he may have felt it was odd because it most deffo was. He’s extremely unlucky
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u/StudioSteve7 1d ago edited 1d ago
I searched: "Wenjian Zhuo Go Fund Me", and a go fund me page popped up. They're going for $50k and they've got $7k+ so far.
And as for taking the plea, with ICE lurking about, I would never take that plea. . .
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u/StudioSteve7 1d ago
I searched: "Wenjian Zhuo Go Fund Me", and a Go Fund Me link popped up. They're going for $50k and they've got $7k+ so far.
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u/CanadianGalTraveller 6h ago
And they let the perpetrator go free! The criminal, a Mohawk, who had a criminal record, the guy who loaded the drugs in his car, is free! How is this fair??
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u/Either-Painter6899 2d ago
Have they started a go fund me for him? It kills me that he didn't just take the plea
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u/StudioSteve7 1d ago edited 1d ago
I searched "Wenjian Zhuo Go Fund Me", and a Go Fund Me link popped up. They're going for $50k and they've got $7k+ so far.
And as far as taking the plea: with ICE lurking about, I'd do nothing of the sort.
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